Posts filed under ‘Marketing’

How many times have you just clicked the first result you see, when you have searched for something on Google ?

What’s that? You never go past page 3…

Fear not. No one gets past page 3. This doesn’t mean your lazy and cant be bothered to look any further, this is just typical online behaviour.People don’t want to search too much, they are too busy plus why the hell should they? People want their results and they want it now, most importantly they KNOW Google will give it to them.

To be the number one spot on Google is to essentially win at life. It stands for that illusive integrity in a fast paced world of instant gratification. Online users know that the results Google presents are THE most relevant to their search and that’s why they go to it.

But how do you get to be there?

You may have just started to get involved with online media or maybe you already have a website or a blog and want to be able to be found more for your content. You may just want to show off to the world or you have realised the importance of the power of online marketing. Well you’re in good hands as we at Green i Design know how to be found.

Unfortunately it’s no simple task and getting good rankings in the Google Search Engine can be a full time job, no, there is no easy route and you have to be prepared for the long hall. Any sneaky short cuts, Google’s search bots will find them and you will be punished…

Like Wikipedia, Google is built on trust and of course, some rather complicated techo jargon. From the huge air hangers that house the Big G’s hubs, processing over 100 search factors and the relevance of over 8 billion web pages in a matter of seconds, for your convenience. To the secret Google algorithm that works out exactly what you are looking for, with over 90% of search results online found by Google, there really is no substitute.

So to be found on Google?

HOW TO BE FOUND ON GOOGLE: TIP no. 1

Well as we have mentioned there are loads of factors (over 100) Google consider when making a search, some we* know, some only Google know, but the first and most important factor to get found on Google is to write good content. Matt Cutts (aka the public face / ‘man who is super smug becuase he actually does know everything about’) of Google.com, says good content is his first and primary factor when decifering the relevance of a web page – will it tell the reader what they wanted to know? Have you written about your topic well? with passion and commitment? Do you appeal to your customers?

More often than not, the key to a successful business is their customer satisfaction success rate – and of course Google is on it with that!

Write what you want and write with enthusiasm, write for your audience and not for the search engines and you WILL get found.

………………..

If your still finding this a little complicated and you’d rather someone do the work for you, contact us at Green i Design – We can help you get your web page found.

*We = Search Engine Optimisers

Search Engine Optimisers is the posho way of saying ‘the people who specialise in getting your stuff found online.’

Keep posted for more SEO information and how to’s from Green i Design.

Obviously we are big into our marketing here at Green i Design and one of my favourite Brands advertising themselves in the past 5 or so years have to be Honda. Recently they have been making headlines for their brilliantly innovative concept of producing a Live Commercial. The commercial itself featured a crack team of skydivers doing a real-time dive and producing the Honda “H” Emblem in the sky and wasn’t the slickest, most groundbreaking thing we’ve ever seen but that original concept was a perfect example of Honda working to achieve new things – perfect, I would say, for a motor vehicle company at present times to come across as.

Honda thrive on their reliable image built up from years of good solid car making worldwide since the seventies and have now built on that, focussing on Design, Creativity, Performance and their stellar work in developing new hydrogen cars.

Here is a short selection of some of our favourite Honda commercials from past years that we loved;

After all the fun and excitement at the Euro 2008 Championships this summer, and the fact that we in England had nothing much to do with it, you’d be forgiven for not even remembering that we actually play football in this country – but we DO and the new English Barclays Premier League season kicks off in just over a months time and with it comes the couch potato’s option of the latest football console games – FIFA 2009 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.

First out the gates seems to be FIFA 09, with an official website going up straight after the end of the Euros (so as not to affect any sales of the EA made Euro 2008 game).

Judging from the screenshots you can find on the site, it seems like EA are coming out with another good offering for the football fanatic. Last years Fifa 08 shocked the gaming community with its amazing visuals and, for once, not ‘throw-your-controller-at-the-telly-in frustration’ gameplay. I mean, it was actually good fun – you really started to feel like you were getting some of the control and freedom of play of the game that the Fifa series had always been lacking…

Hang on… wait… I’m being too nice I think… The players didn’t do exactly what you told them to, through balls were useless, player selection was still weird and crossing never really felt fluid enough.

So we can see by the screenshots that EA haven’t let themselves down on the graphics front, but what has been done on the gameplay side of things? The bit that actually makes or breaks wether you keep picking it up and playing it.Well according to EA – lots;

250 additions and enhancements to core gameplay,

new animation technology that creates more responsive first-time shooting and passing,

faster and more controlled dribbling, and improved trapping, and new player momentum physics that delivers realistic player collisions, authentic jostling for the ball, and more variation in tackling.

So thats what they say! All sounds very promising, lets just hope EA deliver the goods and maybe they can really start to stake claim again as the better football fans choice.

Other than the gameplay its good to hear that developers have been working on further improving the ‘Be a Pro’ feature in 08. If you haven’t played it – it basically meant you could take control of solely one player for the duration of a game, being responsible for their every move, run, tackle, pass, shot or goal. It played better than it sounded on paper to be honest and people obviously agreed because this time out you can take control of your chosen player throughout a full-on career, taking part in all the league fixtures to the rainy cup ties of early February.

All of this along with the obvious annual update of club kits, players, stadia etc. and the promise of Platform specific game features, such as 8 vs 8 arcade fun football and table football on the Wii to Quizzes on the PSP and DS, should ensure another good year for EA.

Stay tuned until next time on the couch potato when we are going to be getting all the latest information on Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and keeping you up to date on any new info on Fifa 09.

Stumbled across this blog that had a link to an interesting little resource.

It depicts 101 ways designers can help save the planet.

With some useful tips, like saving files in PDF formats as often as possible (saving paper), giving green clients a break, promoting ethical logos and generally being environmentally aware. Alongside the more obvious tips: turning your computers off at night, turn off the lights etc, Design : Green gives you links to numerous green agencies and organisations that designers, writers and agencies can join to acknowledge and promote their green credentials.

Some may still dismiss green consumerism as hippy or wishy washy, but that is generally the voice of the older generations and pretty much anyone who agrees with their pulpy mental state, is simply showing their age. These tips are fresh, informative and have a social conscience – yes there is a business behind this blog, but business doesn’t always = bad (we will come to this another time). Green efforts should and deserve to be acknowledged.

One point to mention however is this is obviously an American based blog with a few Seattle references and New York contact details. If Seattle means nothing to you, or you haven’t watched enough ‘Fraiser‘ as I have to feel like you know that place inside out, just don’t read those bits – or maybe think outside the box and replace the word ‘Seattle’ with wherever you are standing. Go on, I know you can. “Google map it” if your still confused….

Dork note: Don’t you just love the way Google is now a verb… No? Just me? Meh… again another time!

Whilst our design site is in it’s teeny tiny production stages we would like to take this opportunity to welcome you closet dorks, to embrace all you creative noobs and to encourage a collective openness of minds, to all things creative and designed.

Whether by hand, by machine, by nature or your mum, if we like it then well done you, well done indeed. If not, well, we will tell you why it sucks. Check out our shiney categories, on your right, for a taste of what we’ve got.

And we do all this with a healthy dollop of youthful jadedness and, of course, a smile.

So welcome to Green I Design, your new one stop design MEGATRON. (like what I did there?)